Active particle control experiments and critical particle flux discriminating between the wall pumping and fuelling in the compact plasma wall interaction device CPD spherical tokamak

Abstract

Two approaches associated with wall recycling have been performed in a small spherical tokamak device CPD (compact plasma wall interaction experimental device), that is, (1) demonstration of active particle recycling control, namely, ‘active wall pumping’ using a rotating poloidal limiter whose surface is continuously gettered by lithium and (2) a basic study of the key parameters which discriminates between ‘wall pumping and fuelling’. For the former, active control of ‘wall pumping’ has been demonstrated during 50 kW RF current drive discharges whose pulse length is typically ∼300 ms. Although the rotating limiter is located at the outer board, as soon as the rotating drum is gettered with lithium, hydrogen recycling measured with Hα spectroscopy decreases by about a factor of 3 not only near the limiter but also in the centre stack region. Also, the oxygen impurity level measured with O II spectroscopy is reduced by about a factor of 3. As a consequence of the reduced recycling and impurity level, RF driven current has nearly doubled at the same vertical magnetic field. For the latter, global plasma wall interaction with plasma facing components in the vessel is studied in a simple torus produced by electron cyclotron waves with Ip < 1 kA. A static gas balance (pressure measurement) without external pumping systems has been performed to investigate the role of particle flux on a transition of ‘wall fuelling’ to ‘wall pumping’. It is found that a critical particle flux exists to discriminate between them. Beyond the critical value, a large fraction (∼80%) of pressure drop (‘wall pumping’) is found, suggesting that almost all injected particles are retained in the wall. Below it, a significant pressure rise (‘wall fuelling’) is found, which indicates that particles are fuelled from the wall during/just after the discharge. Shot history effects (integrated particle recycling behaviour from the plasma facing surfaces) are seen on that the critical particle flux is reducing from 0.8 × 10−4 to ∼0.1 × 10−4 Torr during the experimental campaign (∼3000 shots). In the wall pumping pressure range the wall pumping fraction is reduced with increasing surface temperature up to 150 °C.